Foundation work completed on Jeddah's Kingdom Tower

Raft piling works for the world’s next tallest building, Kingdom Tower in Saudi Arabia, has been completed

Raft piling works for the world’s next tallest building, Kingdom Tower in Saudi Arabia, has been completed.

Jeddah Economic Company (JEC) has announced that the 12-month long foundation work project is finished, clearing the way for construction work to begin on the site next week.

Kingdom Tower, which is the focal point of the new Kingdom City, is to rise more than 1,000 metres and will be built on an area of 85,000 square metres at an estimated cost of more than $1.5bn.

The raft is considered one of the world’s largest one-piece reinforced steel foundations with thickness ranging between 4.5 to 5m.

Mounib Hammoud, CEO of JEC, stated that work on the Kingdom Tower is now above the ground and construction work is moving at an accelerated pace.

“The Kingdom Tower will be ahead of any other high rise building in the world with specifications surpassing what is usually required. The tower will have 58 high-speed elevators including the double-decker high-speed elevators reaching a speed of 12 metres/second, in addition to other distinctive features making the Kingdom Tower an iconic landmark that will be a source of pride for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its people,” he said.

The Kingdom Tower features 170 stories, seven stories of which will be allocated for the five-star Four Seasons Hotel offering 200 rooms, eleven stories for 121 luxury serviced apartments, and seven stories for offices.

The tower will also have 61 stories that include 318 housing units of various types, a gym, spa, cafes and restaurants, several sky lobbies and world’s highest observation floors located on the top floors 660m high enabling visitors to view the city of Jeddah from the sky.

Located on an area of more than 5.3m sqm, the Kingdom City will provide a contemporary lifestyle environment supported by an integrated advanced infrastructure.